Jellyfish are members of the phylum Cnidaria family of aquatic organisms, which typically live in salt water seas and oceans. Jellyfish consist of tentacles, which may contain stinging structures, comprising venom, and a gelatinous bell. Jellyfish tend to drift, while feeding on plankton, fish and sometimes other jellyfish. In certain locations, jellyfish tend to drift in groups consisting of large numbers of jellyfish, called blooms.
Large jellyfish blooms may be detrimental to humans. When blooms approach coastal bathing areas, jellyfish may release their venom into sea water or sting humans upon contact, often causing an unpleasant allergic reaction, which may be severe or even deadly in the case of certain jellyfish. In addition, blooms impact fishing industries, by eating commercial fish and by becoming entangled in fishing nets. Another negative impact of jellyfish blooms is clogging of industrial equipment. Jellyfish have been implicated in damage to power plants, desalination plants and ship engines that rely on sea-water intake.
Industries which rely on salt-water intake, such as power plants, may need to remove large quantities (multiple tons per day) of jellyfish from water intake systems, to ensure proper functioning of these systems. Once the jellyfish are removed, they cause an ecological problem, as they need to be disposed of and regulations often prohibit dumping them back into the sea. As a result, they require shipment to landfills for burial. Disposal is often difficult, because once jellyfish are removed from water, they begin to decay and emit an unpleasant smell.
Methods of manufacture using components of jellyfish have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,714,582, and 7,829,679 and US Application Publications 2010/0285102 and 2003/0088069.